High Starters

At Sandringham school we believe that people are not innately gifted or talented and that effort is a key characteristic of being a high achiever. Thus, at Sandringham we use the terminology ‘High Starters’ as opposed to the term Gifted and Talented. This reflects our belief that by adopting a growth mind-set a student may improve and develop their ability in a subject area. High Starters captures the fact that some students are performing at a level over and above their age-related peers in a certain area, but that this situation is flexible; most High Starters will have to work hard to maintain this advantage, while other students can become High Starters through improving their performance.

Martin YoungDirector of Learning: Business and Economics

“Not all learning needs to be pre-specified and pre-determined. Sometimes it is important to trust young people and enable them to exceed your expectations. How can we expect them to become life-long learners unless we encourage and support them to pursue their own interests for their own educational growth. Ignite is an excellent example of what can be achieved when young people are allowed to pursue something which interests them, and then to communicate what they have done with others. It provides both a record and a celebration of this learning.”